Greek and Roman Warfare (2006)

[Ioannis]

Greek and Roman Warfare: Battles, Tactics and Trickery by John Drogo Montagu, 256p (Greenhill Books 2006). ISBN 1853676853. Hardback. Price GB £25.00

Oxbow says: John Drogo Montagu's name is synonymous with Greek and Roman warfare but, in this book, he stears away from a technological approach to warfare, the arms and armour and technicalities of the battle, to consider the role of the human element. This study is divided into two parts. The first looks in general at how battles were won and lost, the importance of elements such as training, planning, morale, fitness and the capabilities of commanders, as well as the role of ingenuity, surprise, initiative, decoys and deception, misinformation and secrecy, what Montagu terms the 'software' of Greek and Roman warfare. Taking a range of examples, Montagu argues that the outcome of a battle can be determined by well-planned tactics and the decisions of the commander, reading the enemy's size, capabilities and methods, as well as other external factors such as geography. This study draws attention to commanders such as Hannibal, Caesar, Scipio Africanus, Pompey and Alexander the Great, their strategies and tactics, their successes and failures. The second part of the book presents detailed descriptions of twenty-one battles, from Mantinea in 418BC, to Pharsalus in 48BC. The two sections are cross-referenced extensively allowing the reader to study the human element in general and then look up specific historical examples.